Designer (Merrell)

Centric Brands; New York (NY); On-site; USD 85,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

401(k) matching

Summer Fridays

Generous PTO

Merchandise discounts

Career development

Job summary

Centric Brands is seeking a Designer to contribute to seasonal design development for women’s and men’s apparel, including outdoor performance fabrics. You will collaborate with technical design, production, and external vendors to convert concepts into finished products.

The ideal candidate has 4–7 years of apparel design experience, strong sketching skills, and proficiency in CAD and Adobe Creative Suite.

Qualifications

• Experience in women’s and men’s apparel and understanding of outdoor performance fabrics and trends across categories.
• Superior organizational and communication skills; team oriented.
• Ability to multi-task, meet deadlines, and be highly detail oriented, creative.
• Creativity, technical capability and merchandising sensibility; ability to sketch.
• Extensive knowledge of garment construction, pattern making, silhouettes, colorways, sewing techniques, fabrication and trim.
• Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design and 4–7 years apparel design experience focusing on women’s apparel.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Adobe products, CAD and Mac computers.

Responsibilities

• Execute seasonal design development from concept to delivery for Merrell, ensuring timely progression through stages.
• Design according to style plans, sales needs and trends; maintain product development calendars.
• Create Illustrator sketches; review specs and line sheets; manage PLM system or shared drives.
• Review lab dips with seniors; ensure color consistency with standards and licensor directives.
• Coordinate with internal/external customers, vendors and teams; maintain cross-functional communication.
• Lead and develop junior team members; contribute to a collaborative team environment.

Skills

Women’s & Men’s apparel

Organizational skills

Multitask & detail-oriented

Sketching

Merchandising sense

Fabric knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Design

Tools

CAD

Adobe Creative Suite

Microsoft Office

Mac proficiency

Job description

About Us

Centric Brands is a leading lifestyle brand collective that designs, sources, markets and sells high quality products in multiple segments, including women's, men's and kid's apparel, accessories, entertainment and beauty. Centric Brands is focused on our customers and our brands that will drive the company’s future growth. We are defined by innovation as we seize new opportunities and thrive in an environment informed by creativity and thinking that is both analytical and outside the box. Centric Brands reflects a team built on respect, for others and for the hard work it takes to achieve our goals and build our bright future together.

About Us

Centric Brands is a leading lifestyle brand collective that designs, sources, markets and sells high quality products in multiple segments, including women's, men's and kid's apparel, accessories, entertainment and beauty. Centric Brands is focused on our customers and our brands that will drive the company’s future growth. We are defined by innovation as we seize new opportunities and thrive in an environment informed by creativity and thinking that is both analytical and outside the box. Centric Brands reflects a team built on respect, for others and for the hard work it takes to achieve our goals and build our bright future together.

Designer

What could be more exciting than putting your mark on some of the world’s most famous and well-loved fashion brands? As a designer for Centric Brands, you’ll use your skills and creativity to create designs based on style plans, sales needs and emerging trends. You will also ensure that your work can be transformed into a finished product in a timely manner and at an appropriate price point. This means working not only with our technical design and production teams, but also building collaborative relationships with outside vendors and other external stakeholders. The challenges are exciting and the possibilities endless – as you contribute your skills in a vibrant, customer- and people-centric culture that celebrates you as a valuable member of the team.

Specific Responsibilities Would Include

The Designer for Merrell executes the seasonal design development process, from concept to delivery, by creating and executing original, trend-appropriate design concepts that meet market needs and drive sales, and ensuring the timely execution of each stage in the process.

Roles & Responsibilities

Strategy & Innovation

• Research and identify trend directions; perform competitive analysis; pull and review fabrics, design concepts, presentation boards for meetings, mock-ups, color-ups, inspirational photos
• Execute development of initial seasonal design category in context of larger assortment and cost structure

Operations & Results

• Design according to style plans, sales needs and emerging trends; ensure timely execution of product development calendar
• Create Illustrator sketches; review specification sheets and line sheets; ensure accuracy of product development logs, line sheets, boards and design archives library; ensure maintenance of designs in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system or shared drives
• Select and review raw materials and trims; ensure maintenance of fabric/trim library
• Approve lab dips with Senior Designer(s) and ensure consistency with color standards and licensor directives, where appropriate; review prints and graphics where appropriate and advise revisions; manage fit process

Customers & Relationships

• Coordinate follow-up with internal and external customers and partners, including technical design, production and vendors; manager interoffice communication
• Build collaborative relationships with vendors and internal customers

Leadership & Teams

• Contribute positively to team dynamic and manage up where necessary
• Attract, develop and retain talent

Our Best Fit Candidate Would Have

• Women's and Men's apparel experience and understand of Outdoor preformance fabrics and trends across all categories.
• Superior organizational skills and excellent communication skills; team oriented
• Ability to multi-task and meet deadlines; highly detail oriented, meticulous and creative
• Creativity, technical capability and sensibility for merchandising; ability to sketch
• Extensive knowledge of garment construction, pattern making, silhouettes, color ways, sewing techniques, fabrication and trim; familiarity with print design and manufacturing
• Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Design
• 4-7 years experience in apparel design with a focus on Women's apparel
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office, Adobe products, CAD and Mac computers

In return, we provide an industry-competitive salary, along with a comprehensive benefits plan (medical, dental, vision) that includes a matching 401(k), Summer Fridays, generous PTO, merchandise discounts, excellent career development opportunities, and a work environment that reflects our industry leadership. Our social impact program, Centric Cares, focuses on volunteerism to make a difference in communities we live and work in and our D&I committee is shaping the future of diversity, equity and inclusion at Centric Brands though workshops, resources and inspiring conversation.

Salary Range: 85,000 - 100,000

At Centric Brands, we believe our people are our greatest asset, and we seek to structure competitive compensation offers to ensure that we are able to attract and retain the best talent. Our job postings include an annual base salary range at the time of employment. The stated base salary range represents our good faith estimate as to what candidates are likely to expect, and we tailor our offers within the range based on several factors, including the selected candidate's educational and professional experience, industry knowledge, location, technical and communication skills, and other factors that may prove relevant during the selection process. Base salary is a part of a total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may also include commission earnings, annual bonus and other Centric Brands sponsored benefit programs.

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Centric Brands is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Please note that Centric Brands will only reach out to interview, make an offer of employment or conduct onboarding activities for candidates who have applied through our careers site. When interviewing for a position, the candidate experience will include live interaction, such as a video conference or telephone call, with a Recruiter and/or company employee(s). We will never ask for any money or payments from applicants at any point in the recruitment process.